permaculture

[tom <tom@honeychrome.com>]

The slip of paper I got says "This certifies that ______ has  
successfully completed a permaculture consultant's design course."   
Personally I don't think completing the course certifies me for  
anything other than applying permaculture principles to my own life  
(and I'd be doing that certified or not), though I will talk about  
permaculture with anyone I come across who cares to listen.  Maybe  
they'll be interested enough to buy me a beer, which I suppose is a  
violation of the exhortation not to 'hang out a shingle' in an  
extreme interpretation...  or likewise I may have to buy them a beer  
to keep them listening...

Toby wrote:
"So there's no error in the name or structure of the course, but  
there is
one in the minds of people who believe that it certifies them as a
designer."

I'd argue that if there is a substantial number of people who have  
this misconception (and it seems there is) the source of the  
misconception is not entirely in their minds.  If they are shelling  
out money and signing up for a PDC with this misconception there is  
something in the name or the course description that is unclear  
enough to invite the misconception.

Toby wrote:
"BTW, I can think of lots of less-than-72 hour courses that result in
certification: equipment operators, inspectors of various kinds, master
gardeners, restricted chemical appliers, etc."

 I think we'd agree that these examples are not comparable to  
permaculture design- perhaps with the exception of master gardener,  
they are are certifications for a single, specific sill, and once  
certified one can basically go out and get a paying job applying that  
skill.  The issue here is that, no, you shouldn't go out and start  
collecting money applying your new 'certified' permaculture design  
skills.  Permaculture design is more along the lines of architecture,  
or ID, or urban planning, or even social science, and there is no 72- 
hour certification in those fields.  Of course permaculture IS  
different than architecture or ID or urban planning, so I'm not  
suggesting the learning and certification process should be modeled  
on the processes used in those fields.

I'm not just being argumentative- from things I've heard and read it  
seems like there is a possibly growing problem here.  To dismiss the  
problem as a misconception on the part of some people doesn't seem to  
address it, and as Adam suggested, with permaculture potentially on  
the verge of going 'mainstream,' now is the time to think and act on  
it.  There is an existing permaculture structure that could be useful  
here- the system of zones.  Perhaps the existing PDC course could be  
called a Zone 0 PDC course, designating it as an intensive  
introduction for the individual.  Not a radical renaming- a refining  
or clarifying.  Further levels of certification denoting training and  
experience in broader ranges and elements of design could go on up to  
zone 5 certification.